Description of Historic Place

The Old Post Office-City Hall Building is a Municipal Heritage Property which comprises five commercial lots on the corner of 11th Avenue and the Frederick W. Hill Mall (formerly Scarth Street) in the City of Regina. Completed between 1906 and 1909 with an addition constructed between 1929 and 1931, the property features a 3½-storey Tyndall Stone building with prominent corner clock tower.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Old Post Office-City Hall Building resides in its expression of the restrained Edwardian Classical style of public architecture adopted by the federal government during the period of rapid population growth pirior to World War I. This style, which is related to Beaux-Arts but on a less monumental scale, provided an identifiable federal presence in larger Canadian cities such as Moose Jaw, Lethbridge, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver. These functional masonry buildings served primarily as post offices and customs facilities. Edwardian Classical features of the Old Post Office-City Hall include a rusticated stone base, alternating recessed and protruding bands which define the main floor level. These elements can also be seen in the balustraded balconies at the second floor level supported by scrolled brackets, and Ionic columns and pilasters extending from the bottom of the second floor to the denticulated cornice above the third floor, pronounced keystones and voussoirs, and prominent clock tower with elaborate decoration and irregularly shaped cupola at the northwest corner of the building.

Heritage value also resides in the building's Second Empire architectural features. These stylistic elements include the Mansard roof with pedimented dormers and larger stone projections with carved pediments, and round-headed windows accented with keystones. The existing dormers were added in 1929.

Heritage value also resides in the building's status as one of the oldest remaining structures in the downtown area. The original northern section was designed between1906 and 1909 under David Ewart, Chief Architect for the Dominion of Canada. The smaller southern addition, constructed between 1929 and 1931 by the prominent Regina architectural firm of Van Egmond and Storey under the direction of Thomas Fuller, Chief Dominion Architect, was designed to blend inconspicuously with the original building.

Heritage value also resides in the historic use of the building for a variety of public functions. Originally designed to house the Post Office and the Customs and Inland Revenue departments, it also served as the Provincial Legislature prior to the completion of the Legislative Building in 1912. The Post Office and other federal government offices occupied the premises until 1962. After 1928, when the RCMP assumed responsibility for policing Saskatchewan, the building accommodated the district headquarters of the RCMP. The building was purchased by the City of Regina and used as the City Hall until 1976, and subsequently converted to a commercial mall on the main level. The Globe Theatre and Plains Historical Museum are accommodated on the upper floors. In 1989, it was purchased from the city by a private developer. The Old Post Office - City Hall Building became the second building in Regina to be designated as Municipal Heritage Propertys.

Further heritage value resides in the property’s status as a prominent community landmark and an integral part of the Frederick W. Hill Mall. While newer buildings in the downtown area have eclipsed the Old Post Office-City Hall in scale, the building remains an important visual component of one of the most intact original streetscapes in Regina.

Source:

City of Regina Bylaw No. 7158.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Old Post Office - City Hall Building lies in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which reflect the Edwardian Classical style, including the rusticated stone base, alternating recessed and protruding bands which define the main floor level, balustraded balconies at the second floor level supported by scrolled brackets, Ionic columns and pilasters extending from the bottom of the second floor to the denticulated cornice above the third floor, pronounced keystones and voussoirs, regular massing and prominent clock tower with elaborate decoration and irregularly-shaped cupola at the northwest corner of the building;
-those elements which reflect the Second Empire style, such as the Mansard roof with pedimented dormers and larger stone projections with carved pediments, and round-headed windows accented with keystones.